Under one person: I, Zhang Zhiwei, the arrogant Zhang.

"Is it hard?!"

Liu Mang's question was like a thunderbolt in the entire meeting room, causing an uproar.

Although none of them were from the world of supernatural beings, they were all involved to some extent and had some understanding of it. They were well aware of the weight that the name "Little Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain" represented.

"If it's Little Celestial Master, then he's incredibly tough. There are probably very few people in the entire world of supernatural beings who are tougher than him."

"But can we really persuade someone like the Little Celestial Master to come?"

"It's really hard to say. You know, the Tiantong Chamber of Commerce is an enterprise under Little Celestial Master's control, as is the Tiantong Steel Plant. I heard that Little Celestial Master has been stationed in Yucheng recently, and even Commander Liu has been going to the steel plant every few days."

"I've heard about this too. Speaking of which, Longhu Mountain is a big landowner, with tens of thousands of acres of farmland under his control. And the Little Celestial Master has been in Chongqing all this time. Why don't you think he goes and wipes out Zhang Mazi?!"

"You think Little Celestial Master came to Chongqing for sightseeing? He definitely has his own things to do! You know Tiantong Steel Plant, right? It produces hundreds of thousands of tons of steel every year, and it's rumored that it might even reach a million tons in a few years. Isn't that kind of factory a thorn in the side of the Japanese pirates? I heard they've already launched several attacks. These past few months, Little Celestial Master has been inseparable from it. How could he have time to deal with Zhang Mazi?"

"I've heard about it too. It seems that the Japanese pirates attacked a steel mill a few days ago, but they failed and were wiped out."

"With the Little Celestial Master stationed there, it's quite normal that the entire Japanese pirate army was wiped out."

All the landlords were discussing the Little Celestial Master's exploits, but no one questioned whether he could handle Zhang Mazi. After all, he was a legendary figure, a god-like being who could even annihilate the Japanese pirate fleet! If he were willing to take action, wouldn't Zhang Mazi be a piece of cake?

The landlords were abuzz with discussion, and various rumors about the little celestial master's extraordinary abilities were brought up and amplified again, gradually shifting the atmosphere from doubt to an almost blind expectation.

Liu Mang did not interrupt, quietly watching their discussion until the noise in the hall subsided before speaking again:
"Is it hard?!"

"hard!"

“Hard enough!!”

The landlords shouted loudly.

"Whether it's tough or not can wait. The key now is how to get this person to agree."

Immediately afterward, Liu Mang began to spout nonsense with a straight face, trying to distance himself from Zhang Zhiwei:

"Don't be fooled by how often I've been going to the Tiantong Steel Plant these past few months and think I have a good relationship with Little Celestial Master. Actually, I'm there to apologize."

"As you all probably know, I, Liu Mang, am a man of sorts. I'm not afraid of being laughed at. When the Tiantong Steel Plant was first built, I used a lot of underhanded tactics to get my hands on it. I even threatened to blow up the steel plant if I wasn't allowed to have a stake in it."

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped in shock. To blow up the Little Celestial Master's factory? Wasn't that just making a fool of themselves as Japanese? Given the Little Celestial Master's legendary personality, would he tolerate you?

But the landlords weren't stupid. They felt that Liu Mang shouldn't be acting so recklessly; he might be trying to deceive them and swindle money from them.

Liu Mang continued, "People may think I shouldn't have been so bold, but at the time I was thinking, why would a monk like Xiao Tianshi want to run such a large secular factory?"

"Most likely it's his subordinates using his name to swindle and deceive. Besides, although I said I was going to blow it up, it was just to scare people. How could I bear to blow up such a precious factory? I just wanted to trick them into complying."

Upon hearing this, everyone thought it made sense. If Liu Sangzi was capable of doing something like this, it was worth taking the risk for such a big opportunity.

Liu Mang continued, "Unexpectedly, I really kicked a hornet's nest and seriously offended the Little Celestial Master. He even came to warn me personally, practically holding a knife to my neck, telling me that if I didn't cooperate, he would kill me. That's when I chickened out and stopped trying to take advantage of the Tiantong Steel Plant!"

Everyone suddenly realized that there was such a thing. No wonder Liu Mang's attitude towards Tiantong Steel Plant had suddenly changed drastically, from being determined to get it to keeping his distance.

But in reality, the person who warned Liu Mang was not Zhang Zhiwei, but the head of the Tang Clan.

The Tang Clan leader suddenly appeared in Liu Mang's office and chatted with Liu Mang for a while.

As for the specific content of the conversation, it was nothing more than this being Little Celestial Master's factory, and that all the people from the Tang Clan worked for Little Celestial Master. This time, it was someone from the Tang Clan who came to warn you, but next time it would be Little Celestial Master himself who would come. Commander Liu should know what kind of person Little Celestial Master is, right? He kills Japanese generals without hesitation...

These words truly terrified Liu Mang. If a mere Tang Clan elder was this frightening, what would happen if he himself came?
Even now, Liu Mang still feels lingering fear when he thinks about that incident. He continued:
"It was because of this matter that I agreed to cooperate with the relocation and upgrading of Tiantong Steel Plant, and I've also been trying to build a good relationship with the Little Celestial Master during this time. Actually, during this period, I did consider asking the Little Celestial Master for help..."

Liu Mang paused here, which made the landlords present very anxious, and they hurriedly asked the young celestial master how he had answered.

After a moment of suspense, Liu Mang continued, "The Little Celestial Master said that this is a case of dogs fighting, and he doesn't care!"

These words caused an uproar among the people present. These landlords felt that the Celestial Master's Mansion also owned a large amount of land and was therefore also a landlord, so they should be on the same level as them.

If this is a case of dogs fighting dogs, then wouldn't that mean the Celestial Master's Mansion is also a dog? Of course, they only dared to think this in their hearts and didn't dare to say it out loud.

Liu Mang gestured for silence, then continued, "He also said that it wasn't impossible for him to help, but it would be like hiring a Taoist priest to perform a ritual on a mountain—it would require a donation. Considering everyone's wealth, he set a price..."

Liu Mang stretched out one hand towards the crowd, his five fingers spread wide.

"How much?" Mr. Li blurted out, "Fifty thousand silver dollars?"

"Fifty thousand?" Liu Mang was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then roared angrily, "Are you here to cause trouble, you son of a bitch?"

Mr. Li chuckled sheepishly. He had just gotten used to haggling over prices, which was why he blurted it out. He regretted it as soon as he said it, as the price was indeed a bit unreasonable.

"Could it be 500,000?" another man asked.

"Do you think you're treating him like a beggar?" Liu Mang said. "The entire Tiantong Chamber of Commerce is under the Little Celestial Master's command. He spends far more money on charity, disaster relief, and porridge distribution every day. Do you think you can persuade him to come?"

"Could it be... five... five million?" someone said in a trembling voice.

"That's right, that's the amount. At the time, I felt that the money was too much and not worth it. I also had some wishful thinking that Zhang Mazi wasn't that powerful, so I never made up my mind to ask him to help."

“But now, the situation is getting worse and worse, and Zhang Mazi is becoming more and more rampant. I think it’s better to end it quickly than to suffer a long pain. Why don’t we all pool our money and raise five million to wipe out Zhang Mazi? What do you think?” At this moment, a landlord with a bright mind said, “General Liu, can we owe him the five million first? We can pay him back after the Little Celestial Master kills Zhang Mazi and gets all the money he stole back.”

"Yes, that's a good idea. It's only right to do the work first and then pay the wages."

"That's right. By then, 550 will be nothing more than a hair on a cow."

The landlords began to become active.

Liu Mang and Fan Pengju watched coldly without saying a word. The landlords were also perceptive; seeing that Liu Mang didn't speak, they gradually stopped talking as well.

At this moment, Liu Mang angrily cursed in his dialect: "Lai Kebao yawns, what a big mouth you have! Do you really think the Little Celestial Master is your tenant or your head servant?"

"Let the little Taoist priest snatch the money back, and then give him some leftovers. I'll fucking swear! How dare you say something like that? I'm ashamed to even hear it. Do you even know how to do that? I'm asking you, do you even know how to do that?"

The landlord who made the suggestion was scolded until his face turned red, and he lowered his head in embarrassment.

"What we need to do now is to eliminate Zhang Mazi. As for the money that Zhang Mazi stole, we can deal with that after we've eliminated him."

Liu Mang recalled Zhang Zhiwei's expression and tone when they spoke earlier, so he straightened his face, straightened his posture, and said, "I still stand by what I said before: who agrees, who disagrees?!"

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, so no one dared to speak first. The landlords were all whispering among themselves, not because they didn't want to ask the young Taoist priest for help, but because five million silver dollars was simply too much.

Some of them didn't even have five million silver dollars in their entire fortune; this was definitely a financial blow.

Moreover, they had already been extorted by Liu Mang many times before this, and while their finances were damaged, their trust in Liu Mang was also greatly damaged.

Seeing everyone's reactions, Liu Mang knew it was time to drop the bombshell.

Liu Mang surveyed the room, his voice carrying an undeniable resolve: "To be honest, the price for the Little Celestial Master is indeed high. But for the sake of eliminating Zhang Mazi, for the peace of our Sichuan region, and for everyone's lives and property, I accept this price!"

He slammed his fist on his chest: "I've decided to sell all the estates and shops my Liu family owns outside the city! First, I'll raise one million silver dollars! The rest... the rest..."

As he said this, he rubbed his temples and said, "The rest is not something I don't want to admit, but something I'm truly powerless to do. Not long ago, I ordered a batch of equipment and paid the deposit. There's really no way to take it back, so I can only rely on everyone."

The landlords watched this scene with cold eyes. Although Liu Mang's acting skills were quite good and he acted as if it were real, everyone knew what was going on. This was clearly forced donation.

At this moment, Fan Peng, the straight man, said with great expression, "Everyone! You've all seen it! The commander-in-chief has already admitted to the big boss. For everyone's sake, he's even willing to sell his ancestral property! He's risking his life for us!"

"As for the missing four million, I think everyone should contribute what they can, and if they have the money, they should contribute what they can to raise the remaining four million. Then we can ask the Little Celestial Master to take action and solve the problem once and for all! We can rest easy from then on. Otherwise, are we just going to give up like this and wait for Zhang Mazi to come knocking on our door one by one?!"

"The young celestial master is still in Chongqing, and the price remains the same. However, if he goes back and becomes unavailable, the price may change. Please think it over carefully, as this is a one-time opportunity."

The landlords were conflicted. They couldn't bear to part with it. Even if Liu Mang accepted one million, there were still four million left!

Their money didn't come from thin air. When tenant farmers borrowed surplus grain from them, they would make up fake scales or mix rotten rice into the grain. That's how they saved up their money little by little. Now, asking them to raise four million all at once was heartbreaking.

Seeing that no one had made a decision yet, Liu Mang raised his head and said coldly, "Everyone, you can't catch a wolf without risking your cub. Think about my fifth uncle. With his assets, he could easily cover up this whole thing by himself. But he's gone mad now. He can't even cover up the shit, let alone the money."

"Money is just an external thing. You can earn more money if you lose it, but it's really tragic if you die before you've spent all your money."

These words were like a curse, striking at the deepest fears of every landlord. Wealth is accumulated for enjoyment and inheritance; what use is money if you lose your life?

“Let’s do it. I agree to pool our money to hire the Little Celestial Master.” A respected landlord spoke first: “But I have one condition. We need to be present when the Little Celestial Master eliminates Zhang Mazi. It’s not that we don’t trust the Little Celestial Master, but Zhang Mazi has harmed us so badly. We want to witness with our own eyes how these damned bastards are wiped out.”

Liu Mang looked at the landlord, pondered for a moment, and said, "Okay, I will bring this up with the Little Celestial Master."

After saying that, he remembered Zhang Zhiwei's personality and added, "But I can't guarantee he won't ask for more money!"

The landlord paused for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "If I can witness the demise of Zhang Mazi and his ilk, I'll pay more!"

He practically spat out those last few words through gritted teeth.

With him taking the lead, the other landlords also nodded in agreement.

“Alright, I will bring this up with the Little Celestial Master. Now let’s talk about the specifics of how to donate. Should it be distributed according to the number of people or according to the amount of property?” Liu Mang said.

"Give me a head!"

"Yes, it's fair to base it on the number of people!"

"No, it's fairest to base it on property!"

"Yes, property is the fairest thing!"

With just two sentences, Liu Mang divided the once united landlord group. The big landlords wanted to distribute the land based on the number of people, while the small landlords wanted to distribute it based on assets.

The ensuing meeting turned into a bitter squabble among the landlords. Liu Mang didn't participate at all, since he had already embezzled a million.

In the end, the large landowners suppressed the small landowners and distributed the land equally according to the number of people.

After agreeing on the plan, the landlords went back to raise money. While they were raising the money, Zhang Mazi and his gang struck again, attacking another landlord and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets.

This time, it was the Tang Clan who took action again. They had already stopped, but since it was going to be the last time, they naturally had to drag Zhang Mazi out for a spin.

As for the landlords' request to witness Zhang Mazi's elimination, which they had mentioned to Liu Mang, Zhang Zhiwei readily agreed. It was merely arranging a staged event, nothing difficult for him. (End of Chapter)